Attorney John Calcagni is a Godsend!- West Point Cadet
General Court Martial Defense – Three counts of Sexual Assault Article 120: 2 Charges DISMISSED 3rd Sentence reduced
Attorney John Calcagni is a Godsend! I cannot express how grateful I am for all the work he put into my General Court Martial. He is undoubtedly well versed and very thorough as an attorney. John constantly puts forth his best effort. The most important thing for me was the fact that he personally cared about what happened to me. His experiences and familiarization with the military’s justice system criminal practice and formalities made him an exceptional attorney for me.
Having never received so much as a speeding ticket before I was greatly unfamiliar with the judicial process. I did not know where to begin. It took a lot of searching; I spoke to several civilian attorneys but after speaking to John I knew that I was done looking. John was very patient with me. He took his time listening and understanding my case in every detail. He slowly explained all the possible options I had to choose from—in terms that I could understand!
The relationship I had with my U.S. Army Trial Defense Service (TDS) lawyer was very different from my relationship with John. John was able to work well with my TDS lawyers but it was apparent that he was in an entirely different league than them. John never made a decision without consulting me first and he always sent me email traffic between him and anyone else involved in my case. This kept me well informed and let me know he was working hard on things for me. Even better than working with my TDS lawyer was how well he worked with my family and kept them all reassured and calm!
After retaining John I was never worried about having to contact him to ask questions. It was a comfort knowing that I had someone working on my side that took my case to heart. He genuinely cared about what happened to me! That made the process much easier. He was not just helping me legally but he helped me remain calm. Scheduling times to meet was always too easy despite both of our busy lives. He was always straight forward with me. If I had a quick question I would text him and he would give me an answer shortly after. There was never any wondering about if and when I would hear from him or any doubt as to what he needed from me.
My General Court Martial was convened on 23 July 2012. I was charged with three counts of Article 120 Sexual Assault. I faced the possibilities of being sent to prison being discharged from the military and having to register as a sex offender! However the factual severity of the offense did not match the charges. So having accepted responsibility for my actions I pleaded guilty to 2 counts of Article 128 Assault Consummated by Battery. I was then sentenced to receive a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand (GOMOR) – the sentence that Attorney Calcagni requested and fought for. My family and I are extremely happy with this outcome.
As I stated before John lets you make the decisions after giving you all the options first. And he doesn’t sugar coat the situation. Even when we were confident things would go my way he didn’t let that stop him from being thorough! He drafted a deferment request in advance of going to court so if I was sentenced to jail we could have asked that it be deferred. John also made a personal portfolio with the statements from my character witnesses all of my awards academic successes and personalized photographs. He then used these materials to reveal to the judge what kind of a person I actually am opposed to that portrayed by the prosecutor. This along with Attorney Calcagni’s questioning of witnesses and arguments to the Court gave the judge a lot consider when considering an appropriate sentence for my one-time admitted mistake. In the end it all worked out in my favor thanks to John.
If I or someone I care about should ever get into any trouble and need legal assistance I know that I will call John immediately. I seriously doubt you can find better than him.